


What is really meant to be

by Milani



Category: Beauty and the Beast (2017), Beauty and the Beast - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dead Gaston (Disney), Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pining, The Bimbettes are Stanley's sisters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-17
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-11-14 23:32:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11218524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milani/pseuds/Milani
Summary: LeFou and Stanley both stay in the castle before and during the feast. Not entirely coincidental, they have to share a room. Stanley helps LeFou, who has nightmares since Gaston died.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I surprised myself with this fic - I'd never thought I'd desperately want to write a Stanfou fic! But in the end, who can resist this ship?  
> My tumblr is mademoiselle-lani.tumblr.com, I'm always happy about new followers and/or people who want to talk. <3
> 
> I apologize for any mistakes I made, English isn't my first language and I think it shows.

It had been several weeks since the night that had changed LeFou's life completely. It had been the night the Beast turned back into a prince. The night, Gaston had died.  
LeFou sighed and opened the door in front of him. Entering the room, he looked around, wondering if this was really the "simple room" Lumiére had been speaking of. Shaped like a hexagon with walls that were painted in a light blue and decorated with golden flowers here and there, and a large window on the wall opposite the door, the room seemed like everything but simple to LeFou.  
He closed the door behind him and inspected the furniture. Left and right from the door were standing wardrobes. There were two large beds in the room, each placed on one side of the window, small cabinets with chambersticks on top beneath them. All of it was made carefully of beautiful, shining, dark wood. LeFou went to the bed on the right and stroked softly over the white linen on it. He still was more than thankful for the oppurtunity to stay here.  
  
When Belle and Adam had invited him to the feast that should take place in the castle, his first reaction was to decline that invitation, because despite of having apologized as soon as he was able to, LeFou still felt ashamed. But they and also Maurice had assured him how much it would mean for them, if he came. And when Mrs. Potts saw him, she also made sure to tell him, how happy she would be to see him again, since he had helped her in the fight. Which was something she apparently had been telling everybody in the castle. At least, everybody was being strangely fond of him.  
  
And when Belle had told LeFou that there were some rooms for people who would like to stay overnight, he immediately asked if he could have one of them. He didn't say it, but after what had happened to Gaston, sleeping was one of the hardest things to do for LeFou. There had been no night without him having nightmares. Providing that he could fall asleep at all. Maybe, he had thought, it could help being in a new surrounding.  
Even without LeFou telling it to her, Belle had understood at once. After thinking for a moment, she had said, "You know...now that I think about it...maybe you and some other people would be able to help the staff a bit? Cleaning up, decorating and so on? I'm sure you're good at decorating. Only if you have the time of course. We would love to welcome you here one or two days before the feast actually is."  
  
And so LeFou was here, hoping he would be able to leave certain thoughts behind. He opened the window, when he heard a knocking on the door. "Come in!" he said.  
The door opened and to LeFou's surprise, Stanley entered the room, greeting him.  
  
"I had no idea you were helping too," said LeFou, "we could have come here together!"

\- "I, uhm. Yeah, we could have. Sorry," Stanley blushed, "I wanted to help with the decorating a bit. And I guess, I just didn't think of going here together"

  
The last part was an out-and-out lie. In fact, he had thought about asking LeFou if they wanted to go together quite a lot, but he couldn't get himself to actually do it. The decorating part was only half the truth, too. He sure wanted to help, but the reason he actually got that idea, was LeFou. When Stanley had heard that LeFou would be staying in the castle for three nights in total, he asked Belle and Adam if he could also help, although he had no idea what he was expecting from the whole thing.  
  
His sisters wouldn't be coming to the castle before the actual feast, but when Stanley had started packing his things earlier this day, they had been standing in his room, giggling even more than usual.  
  
Stanley had taken a deep breath and then asked, "Do I want to know what's going on?" Three yesses had been the response.

"Well, we have heard," had Eloise said, "that unfortunately you won't have a room for yourself."

\- "Yes, some Monsieur...ah, what was his name again? Ah! LeFou! Some Monsieur LeFou will be sharing the room with you," Eliana had added innocently.

Before Stanley had been able to say anything, it had been Elise's turn. "Isn't that a weird coincidence? I wonder what lead to that!"

Being in the same room now as LeFou, Stanley wasn't sure if he should thank his sisters for what they had done, or if he should curse them. The only thing he was sure of was that he didn't want to know what exactly they had said to Belle and Adam.  
There was another knock on the door, and Chip looked into the room. "When you're ready with everything, you can come and help!" And as suddenly as he had appeared, he left.

Five minutes later, Stanley made a note in his head to never tell his sisters that he said he wasn't ready to go yet when LeFou had asked him if they should leave.  
When he finally entered the hall a bit later, he saw LeFou was talking to Mrs. Potts. They seemed to be in a discussion about what should be wrapped around the pillars. Not wanting to disturb this conversation, he made his way to Madame de Garderobe, who winked at him and told him that their task was to find the right decoration for the windows.

They had spent the whole afternoon and evening just with planning. And planning meant changing their ideas a lot of times, which Stanley hoped wouldn't happen the next day, when they wanted to put their plans into action.  
  
  
"Is it okay, if we leave the curtains open?" LeFou asked, just when Stanley was about to close them. "I just like to have a little light in the room at night."  
  
\- "Sure, no problem," Stanley climbed into his bed, blowing off the candle next to him and wished LeFou a good night.

Stanley wasn't sure how long he had been asleep when he woke up. He needed a moment to sort out what exactly it was that had woken him up, when he heard a scream. LeFou. Sitting up, he looked over to LeFou's bed, being thankful that the curtains weren't closed. Apparently LeFou was asleep and having a terrible nightmare. Stanley left his own bed and sat down on LeFou's.  
  
"LeFou?" Stanley asked carefully, but when that wasn't enough to wake him up, he shook him. Finally, LeFou opened his eyes, breathing hard. "Gaston?" he asked.  
  
A strange kind of sadness overcame Stanley. "No. It's me, Stanley. You must have had a bad dream", he explained calmly.  
  
\- "Stanley. I'm so sorry. I didn't want to wake you up. I probably should have asked for a room for me alone, I knew this was bound to happen." LeFou sat up, but Stanley pressed him down firmly.  
  
"Don't worry about me," he said, "are you alright?"  
  
LeFou cracked a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I'm better now, thank you."  
  
They both looked around the room, searching for help about what to say now on the walls and the furniture.  
  
"Hey, have you noticed the stars?" Stanley suddenly asked, looking at the ceiling. Thinking for a moment, he lay himself down on his back next to LeFou, who was mildly confused, but looked up too.  
  
"That's really pretty," he said, examing one golden star after the other, "but if I take Lumiére's word for granted, this is what makes a 'simple room'."  
  
\- "Obviously," Stanley replied, smiling.  
  
And with that they fell silent again.

After a few minutes Stanley, still staring at the stars, finally asked, "You loved him, didn't you?"  
  
LeFou's eyes carefully wandered over Stanley's face, but there was no sign in it that could have been read as amusement. Taking a deep breath, LeFou searched for the right words.  
"He was my friend. And I...admired him, yes," he said.

\- "Why him?"  
  
"Who else was there to admire?"

Stanley flinched, but said nothing. Getting up to go to his own bed again, he quickly mumbled a "Good night", leaving a confused LeFou behind, who wondered what he had done wrong.

  
LeFou got up early the next morning. The good thing was he hadn't had more nightmares the last night. The bad thing on the other hand, was that the reason for that was, that he hadn't closed his eyes after Stanley had left his bed. Looking at him now, LeFou wondered when the last time was he had seen something so peaceful.

The rest of the day went as planned. It turned out that everything looked even more beautiful now than it had done in Stanley's mind when they had talked about it. Between putting golden roses on the sills, he catched a glimpse at LeFou from time to time. He looked tired but happy, wrapping blue and golden ribbons around the pillars as high as it was possible for him.  
  
Unfortunately, the happiness didn't last.

This night, Stanley didn't wake up from screams. In fact, he didn't even fall asleep this time. A few steps away from him, LeFou lay in his bed, obviously crying. Eventually, Stanley wasn't able to stay in his own bed any longer. He stood up and went over.  
  
"Don't," LeFou begged when Stanley touched him gently, "just leave me and go back to bed, it's okay. I'm sorry, I'll be quiet."

But like the night before, Stanley just lay down on his back again, next to LeFou. He hesitated for a moment and then started to sing.  
  
_Close your eyes, I'll be your guide_  
_I'll shelter you, no need to hide_  
_No nightmares will haunt you, I swear_  
_Just beautiful dreams and I will be there_

 _So close your eyes and you will see_  
_What is really meant to be_  
_These dreams they may come true_  
_They'll show you what's waiting for you_

 _If it's you you'll be_  
_So everyone can see_  
_Just you and only you_  
_And how your dreams come true_

LeFou sniffed, rolled on his back and looked at Stanley. "That's a beautiful song," he said, wiping away some more tears from his eyes.  
  
\- "Thanks," Stanley smiled. "My mom used to sing it to me and I later sung it to my sisters"  
  
"They love you, don't they?"  
  
Stanley's smile grew even wider. "They do," he said. And as if he was talking more to himself than to LeFou, he quietly added, "They love me just the way I am."

LeFou didn't know what to say, so he continued to look at Stanley's face again, just like he had done the other night. And just as carefully as then, his eyes traced the curve of Stanley's smile formed by beautiful lips, and made their way up to his likewise perfect nose and to his eyes. Although LeFou couldn't really see them from this perspective and in the dim light, he knew how soft and warm they were. They had this special kind of warmth and love in them. So different from the eyes of Gaston when LeFou had seen him alive for the last time.  
  
"I know I probably shouldn't, but I can't stop missing him," LeFou heard himself saying.  
  
Stanley moved his head to meet LeFou's gaze. "That's normal and has nothing to do with what you should or shouldn't do," he said.  
  
\- "You know, after all he probably wasn't honest with me at all, but sometimes it at least seemed as if he felt the same...I mean, as if he admired me too."

Frowning, Stanley replied, "As if he was the only one."  
  
\- "Oh, come on! Who do you think would have been an admirer of mine? The cow I accidentally shot?"

Stanley couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, I'm not sure about that poor cow, but...," he paused, "if you just had bothered to look in some other direction from time to time, you probably would have noticed something."

\- "What-"  
  
"Good night, LeFou," Stanley said, turning his back to LeFou, this time not bothering to move to his own bed.  
  
Just when LeFou opened his mouth again, Stanley looked over his shoulder. "There are rumors that you shooting the cow wasn't really an accident," he said.  
  
\- "Excuse me?"  
  
"Well, Elise suggested that the cow maybe knocked some eggs from your arms when you wanted to make Gaston breakfast. Eliana on the other hand said the cow probably ate some flowers you wanted to bring him. Eloise voted for both." Stanley smirked and looked suspiciously proud while doing it.  
  
\- "Okay, first of all, it was an accident," LeFou said, fighting the urge to slap himself for feeling his heart flutter because of that smirk, "and second, I never would have brought Gaston flowers. That would have been...no. And also the egg thing never happened."  
  
"Well then," Stanley said while turning around again, "I'm glad to hear you're not a cold-blooded cow murderer."

There was a short moment of silence until LeFou opened his mouth again. "Stanley?" he asked.  
  
\- "Mh?"  
  
"What did you mean by 'look in some other direction, you would have-'"  
  
\- "Good night, LeFou," Stanley said, louder this time.

LeFou lay awake for a while, being as confused as the night before, unaware of the fact that next to him, Stanley was also awake, not being confused but rather satisfied with himself.

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, chapter 2 is here, wooohooo! Have fun reading it and please leave a comment if you can. I'd love to read your thoughts, no matter what they are! Oh, btw - I decided that Stanley's last name would be Soleil in this story. :)
> 
> Here's a thing - in this chapter Stanley wearing dresses is mentioned. And, as it unfortunately is to expect with the time the whole story is setted, not everybody is happy about that. Basically here it's one person that won't be mentioned again afterwards, but if this is triggering for you, please be careful. As it isn't essential for the plot, you could do the following. Read until "[...] so that I could wear it at night.", then skip some lines (16 to be exact) and then continue reading with "LeFou just looked at him for a moment."

"Who are you looking at?" Stanley asked his sister.  
  
It was the evening of the feast. The hall looked even more beautiful than before, now that it was filled with happy people. With the exception of the staff, Maurice, and Belle and Adam, everybody was dressed in a similar way. They were dancing to Madame de Garderobe singing and Maestro Cadenza playing, Maurice painting the whole scenario.  
  
\- "Me? I'm not looking at anybody," Eliana replied while obviously still looking at somebody else, who was hidden somewhere behind Stanley's right shoulder.  
  
"Come on, who is it?" Stanley began to turn his head, but was swirled around by his sister. It always surprised him how strong she and their sisters were.  
  
\- "So! How were the last two nights going?"  
  
Stanley looked at her, opening his mouth and then closing it again. Seeing the way Eliana stared at him, he knew it was useless to try and ask her any more questions about the mysterious person she had been looking at. Sighing, he just said, "Well, to be honest, I didn't get much sleep."  
He regretted his choice of words immediatelay when Eliana let out a long "Ooooh".  
  
\- "It was not like that, Eliana." Stanley lowered his voice a bit. "It was because LeFou had nightmares. Or cried."  
  
"Oh," Eliana made again, shorter this time. Then she asked, "And what did you do?"  
  
\- "Well, I went over to his bed. I even slept there last night," Eliana's eyes started to glow. "I tried to calm him and I succeeded when I sang our song to him," Eliana nodded excitedly now. "And...-"

"And?" she asked.  
  
\- "And we talked," Stanley said.  
  
"About what?"  
  
\- "About the stars that are painted on the ceiling in our room. And about the dead cow. And Gaston."  
  
Eliana looked like she needed to keep herself together. "That's...really romantic," she said flatly.  
  
\- "Well, I-"  
  
"You know what? I'd like to dance with my sister for once."  
  
\- "Eliana, what-?" But she cut him off by pushing him with one hand and grabbing for Eloise with the other.  
  
Stanley needed a moment to realize it, but he found himself dancing with LeFou now, who looked just as confused as he did.  
  
"Err..," LeFou made. "Eloise told me she wanted to dance with her sister, so I guess..."  
  
Cursing his sisters, Stanley snorted so heavily that it startled LeFou. "Sorry," he apologized. "It's just...it's just...nothing. I'm sorry."

LeFou showed a little smile that this time also reached his eyes. And then, to their own surprise, they just danced. For Stanley it was the moment he realized that as much as he cursed his sisters, he wanted to kiss each of them on the top of their heads, just as they loved it, and thank them. Thank them for giving him a moment he would always keep in his heart and remember, no matter what outcome everything would take.  
For LeFou it was the first moment in a long time he really felt free. Free – and somehow happy. In hindsight he would say, that this was the exact moment something new started, because it was the first time he had a memory with Stanley that wasn't connected to Gaston at all.

"You're not wearing the dress tonight," LeFou observed, like it was nothing.  
  
\- "I...you saw that?" Stanley asked, trying to look anywhere but at LeFou's face.  
  
"I did. You looked happy. And beautiful."  
  
Stanley felt a ridiculous amount of heat rising in his face. Before he even got the chance to reply, LeFou said, "Not to say you don't look beautiful tonight though."  
  
Stanley was so surprised he now automatically looked at LeFou's face. LeFou looked back, seemingly shocked by his own words. They just stared at each other with red cheeks, blinking a lot more than necessary, both lost for any more words. Suddenly they noticed that not only them but the whole room had fallen suspiciously silent. They had no idea how long the dance had been over, but it definitely was.  
  
"Well, then...," Stanley began.  
  
\- "Yes," LeFou replied shortly.  
  
They simultaneously turned to walk into opposite directions, Stanley into the arms of his grinning sisters, LeFou without any particular goal.  
Somehow he found himself on a chair next to Chip.  
  
"I know what's going on here," Chip said. "I've seen that thing happen before. With Belle and the Prince," he explained.  
  
\- "That is not what is...that was a whole different thing." LeFou stared at his hands that just a few moments before had been holding Stanley. He didn't know why, but he already missed it.  
  
"Because I was a teacup?" Chip asked, interrupting LeFou's thoughts.  
  
\- "No, because...how old are you anyways?"

"Old enough." Chip shrugged.  
  
\- "Chip!" Mrs. Potts called, coming closer. "Don't be like that!"  
  
Chip rolled his eyes, but grinned. "I was telling the truth, that is all," he said, jumping from his own chair to wander through the hall.  
  
"I'm sorry," Mrs. Potts said to LeFou, who looked quite helpless.  
  
\- "It's okay," he mumbled.  
  
"Still – let me give you a _motherly_ " – she made sure to emphasize the word – "advice. _This_ man _is_ good enough for you."  
  
\- "It's -"  
  
"Worth a try? You're absolutely right." And again, a confused LeFou was left alone.

At the same time, at the other end of the hall, the Soleil siblings were looking at each other with wide eyes.  
  
"I love you," Stanley told them. "All three of you."  
  
His sisters gasped, and Elise asked, "So, what did he say?"  
  
Although looking pretty excited herself, Eliana warned her not to get her hopes up. "They probably talked about dead animals and dead people," she explained.  
  
"You did what-," Eloise began, but Stanley interrupted her.  
  
"He said I was beautiful," he blurted out, looking from one sister to another, all of them beaming. "He told me he saw me in that dress and that I looked happy and beautiful and that I also do tonight and that's basically it, but still." Stanley catched his breath and smiled so brightly that he was sure his smile would wrap around his head if his ears didn't stop it. Then, one second later, he felt three pairs of arms wrapped around him.  
  
"Well, you indeed are beautiful," Elise said quietly. And Stanley did what he had been wanting to do already – kissing each of them on their head, whispering small "I love you"s inbetween.

Still sitting on his chair, LeFou watched them and smiled. Although he was alone, he didn't feel like it. Instead, he felt a strange kind of warmth in his heart and wondered if this was the same warmth that he had seen in Stanley's eyes before. LeFou stood up, took one last look at the four and went for the bedroom.

 

When Stanley entered the room later, he couldn't spot LeFou in his bed. But when Stanley finally looked at his own bed, he saw LeFou, laying on his back, hands crossed behind his head and looking at the ceiling. Noticing that Stanley had come back, LeFou lifted his head slightly. "Did you know that the stars look different from this perspective?" he asked.  
  
"I hadn't thought about that," Stanley replied while kicking off his shoes, then slipping out of the vest and untying his hair. Just like that, he lay down next to LeFou. "I guess you're right," he added.  
  
LeFou turned his head to see that Stanley wasn't lying on his back but on his side, directly facing LeFou. "You're not even looking at them," LeFou pointed out.  
  
\- "I know," was the short reply.  
  
LeFou shifted his whole body, so that he was lying on his side too, his chin up, so that he could look into Stanley's eyes. They both smiled softly.  
  
"It was a beautiful evening," LeFou said.  
  
Stanley showed the same smirk he had shown the other night, making LeFou's heart flutter once again.  
  
"Just as beautiful as I am?" Stanley asked, raising one eyebrow.  
  
LeFou let out a short laugh. "Yeah, just like you," he said. "The only thing more beautiful than only you," he added, "was to see how happy you and your sisters looked together." He paused. "If I may ask...how did they react when they saw you in that dress?"  
  
\- "Oh, they already knew that I like to wear dresses from time to time. When we were little, my sisters always got matching clothes. I don't know, I guess I just liked them.  
One day they found me in their room, trying one of their dresses. I think they were a bit confused at first, but they assured me how pretty I looked. Although I probably didn't, since their dresses were always too small for me. The same evening they told our parents, how unfair it is that I don't get to wear matching clothes with them. My mother looked at me like she knew what was going on, but my father obviously didn't think of anything. He just agreed and from then on, my vests matched their dresses.  
Of course my sisters weren't satisfied with that outcome, so they made a plan. From then on, every few months one of them complained that her dress was actually too small, so they would get it a bit larger. And then they gave it to me, so that I could wear it at night.  
It all went well for some years, but...when I was 14, our father catched me." Stanley hesitated.  
  
\- "What did he do?", LeFou whispered.  
  
"He hit me," Stanley replied.  
  
LeFou looked shocked, but Stanley just continued, "You know, thankfully we lived in a big house that was far away from other people, so no rumours came up about anything that happened, but that was the point where I first stopped wearing dresses.  
But then, three years later, a few months after our father had died, our mother surprised my sisters with the most beautiful dresses. I remember Elise's was yellow, Eloise's red and Eliana had a blue one. They looked so pretty and were so happy. And when I walked into my room that night, I noticed something lying on my bed. It was a green dress and it fitted me perfectly."  
He paused to give LeFou the brightest smile. "Unfortunately, we had to give up the house shortly after that. That's when we came to Villeneuve. It's probably silly, but I never dared to wear dresses here. I always thought somebody would just enter the house or look through the curtains.  
So when Madame de Garderobe put me into a dress, I just felt so...free. Like I hadn't felt in a long time. And that's it – that's basically the whole story."  
  
LeFou just looked at him for a moment. "Wow," he said then, "not only do I see your mother and your sisters in a new way now, but suddenly I'm also kind of glad that we attacked the castle."  
  
Stanley laughed. "Well, yes, I guess it had one good thing," he said.  
  
They fell silent. Stanley assumed that LeFou was thinking of Gaston, but little did he know that LeFou's thoughts were completely in this room. Carefully, LeFou moved closer to Stanley. They were so close now that they could feel each others breath on their faces. Both of them wanted to close the small rest of distance that was left between them, but none of them dared to do it yet.  
  
"Your sisters did all of this, didn't they?" LeFou asked quietly.  
  
\- "They did," Stanley confirmed.  
  
"Honestly? I love your sisters," LeFou said, cuddling his head under Stanley's chin.  
  
\- "We have something in common then," Stanley chuckled, wrapping his arms around LeFou.  
  
They both whispered "Good night"s and fell asleep. It was a night without any nightmares.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I proooobably changed the dance a bit, hehe. :) I hope you liked this! <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a bit late with this chapter, but I wasn't really in the mood, sorry. :/
> 
> So this chapter contains sex or rather the implication of it. I don't think it's enough to rate the fic higher, but if you don't want to read about it, just stop after Elise's last sentence. :)
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! <3 Please note that this chapter isn't really proof-read, since I had no oppurtunity to print it out.

LeFou sat at his table, staring into the flames of the candles burning in front of him. He thought about the morning and how neither he nor Stanley had known what to say. It hadn't been necessary though. They just had smiled silently at one another and that had been enough.  
Saying goodbye to everybody at the castle had been surprisingly hard for LeFou, especially since he hoped it wouldn't mean that everything of the last days would end now.  
And then, everybody who had helped with the preperations had gotten a present. "A small present," as Lumiére had stated it. In LeFou's case, "small" meant a great collection of beautiful ribbons for his hair, in all colours he could think of.  
LeFou wondered what Stanley's present had been. He sighed and leaned back. And waited.

Stanley ignored the fact that he was dressed the wrong way for all the rain that came down on him. It was the middle of the night and almost no lights helped him to see where he was going, but it didn't matter. He could see his goal so clearly before his inner eye that he could have closed his real ones and he still would have known where to go.  
He had walked almost the exact way so many times that he had lost count. The only difference this time were two doors and that he wouldn't have to praise a man he didn't really wanted to praise. He would do what he had actually wanted to do all those evenings – not watching how the man he was in love with made a fool of himself. Not watching him making up songs full of love for someone else. Not watching him being held by Gaston.  
Instead, it would be him singing for LeFou. And he would be the one to hold him. At least that was what Stanley hoped for.  
Standing in front of LeFou's door, his courage left him for a moment. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, his perfectly even rolls now destroyed from the rain. Noticing that there was some light inside the house and asking himself if LeFou had left it on because of the nightmares, his hand automatically rose and knocked.  
  
The door opened before Stanley's knuckles even met the wood a second time. Although LeFou seemed as if he wanted to hide it, it was obvious that he was glad to see Stanley.

"Come in," he said, trying to sound like this visit wasn't what he had wished for as soon as he had come home earlier the day. LeFou watched Stanley closely as he entered the small house and looked at everything as if it was some treasure that could vanish every second. Stanley didn't need to show his specific smirk anymore to make LeFou's heart flutter. In fact, Stanley didn't even need to do anything other than appearing in LeFou's thoughts, something he was very good at.  
  
"So I suppose you couldn't sleep either?" Stanley suddenly asked.

\- "To be completely honest with you, I didn't even bother trying to. I just sat at the table, thinking and...uhm...-"  
  
"Hoping I would show up?"

\- "Well, yes." LeFou blushed, discovering that while Stanley's smirk wasn't necessary to make his heart flutter, it still managed to make it worse.  
When Stanley came closer and closer though, LeFou asked himself if his heart not beating at all was really that much better than it rapidly hammering.  
  
Their noses almost touching, Stanley whispered, "LeFou?", earning some kind of high pitched noise rather than a clear reply. "I'm not sure if you have noticed it, but I'm soaking wet, so...could you get me a towel?"

LeFou straightened himself, said nothing and turned around. He walked past the desk he had been sitting at before, moved around one corner and then around another one, went upstairs, arrived in the bedroom and opened the closet. Just when he was about to call him, Stanley appeared next to him.  
  
Handing him a towel and some clothes that had belonged to Gaston once, LeFou said, "You know, you weren't so confident yesterday when I called you 'beautiful'."

Stanley waited with his reply until he was not only out of the room again but also out of his wet clothes.  
"That was different," he started to explain while slipping into the new shirt. "First of all, you genuinely surprised me by saying that, and second, I can't help it, you're confusing."

\- "I am confusing? You are the one who's switching between-"  
  
"Do I want to know why your bed has antlers as decoration?" Stanley asked, freshly dressed and looking into the bedroom.

\- "Probably not, no," LeFou replied. "So," he said, laying down on the bed, his back to the wall, "sleep?" The whole situation felt ridiculous to him.

"Sleep," Stanley agreed, taking one last look at the antlers. "You know, I think you should replace them," he added.

\- "With what?"

"I don't know. Anything. Daisies." Stanley lay down next to LeFou, facing him. "Or how about a cow?"

LeFou chose to ignore him. Instead he asked, "Do your sisters know that you're here?"

\- "Honestly? I wouldn't be surprised if they were sitting on your roof."

"They seem to like the idea of...us." LeFou looked nervous.

\- "At first they didn't. I mean, they probably did, they just didn't like it very much that I was sitting there helplessly while you were swooning over Gaston."

"Why were you talking about the idea of us back then?"

Stanley closed his eyes as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard. "Oh my god, Eliana was right, you still don't get it," he whispered.

\- "Get what?"  
  
Stanley groaned. "Listen, I know you're smart and everything," he said, "but in this case, something is not working inside your head." He took a deep breath and then continued, "I really, really like you. A lot. Not only for two or three days. What do you think I meant when I told you, you should have looked in another direction from time to time? I mean, back than you were busy telling everybody how wonderful it is that Gaston could spit into a bucket, but now-"

\- "Your sisters were pretty excited about that, too!"

Stanley rolled his eyes. "They only acted like that, so I could stare at you without everybody noticing."

LeFou blinked slowly. "Oh," was all he could say. He cleared his throat and added, "I definitely should have looked in your direction more often then. No way I wouldn't have fallen for you earlier."

That was the assurance Stanley had needed so much. Despite noticing that LeFou had started to like him back, he had wondered the whole time if that only was the case because Gaston had died.  
Slowly he moved nearer to LeFou, closing the small rest of distance that was left between them with his lips. LeFou returned the kiss at once, putting his arms around Stanley, hands grabbing his shirt, while Stanley's lost themselves in LeFou's hair. It was a kiss so full of love and passion as if everything that had happened the last days was translated into this one kiss. Every spoken and every unspoken word was said with it.  
The only reason the kiss found an end was so LeFou and Stanley could catch their breathes. LeFou pushed Stanley carefully on his back and leaned over him.  
"I can't believe I could have had this earlier and didn't know it," he said.

Stanley gave him a quick kiss on the nose, smiled and replied, "Better late than never, right?"

\- "Right." LeFou crawled down and cuddled himself in Stanley's arms, head resting on his chest. "Is there any chance-," he yawned, "you might know another song to help me getting to sleep?"

"You sound like you actually don't need help with that, but...hm, I guess, I do." Stanley took a deep breath, softly stroked LeFou's hair and began singing once again.

_Did you know that no matter what you do_  
_In my mind I'm there, thinking about you_  
_Every morning I look at the skies_  
_But all they ever show me are your beautiful eyes_  
_And every noise around me always sounds the same_  
_'cause no matter what it is, it's calling your name_

_Did you know that no matter where you go_  
_I'm standing here, wishing I could follow_  
_I'd walk to you and turn you around_  
_Take you in my arms and lift you up from the ground_  
_I'd protect you from all evil that can be done_  
_And hold you until even forever is gone_

"And where did you learn this song?" LeFou murmured.

\- "I just made it up," Stanley replied.

LeFou was silent for a moment. Sounding like he fought against sleep, he whispered, "Your whole existence is unfair, do you know that?"

 ------  
A knock on the front door woke them up the next morning. "I'll go," LeFou said sleepily, making it sound as if they shared the house already. He rolled over Stanley and made his way downstairs, while the knocking intensified.  
  
When LeFou opened the door, six brown eyes and a lot of dark hair greeted him.

"Good morning!" three voices piped.

\- "Is our brother here?" Eliana asked.

"Uhm, yes, he is," LeFou replied.

\- "Good," Elise said simply.

"Did you kiss?" Eloise blurted out.

As a reply, LeFou blushed.

\- " _Very_ good," Elise said now.

LeFou just stared at them. He couldn't help returning their grins.

"To be honest, that was all," Eliana said. Turning around she added, "But please remind him that he promised to help us in the house today!"

   
Back inside, LeFou did as he had been asked.  
  
"As if I could ever forget what I promised them," Stanley said. "I guess-," he gave LeFou a short kiss, "I should-," another kiss, "leave then, but-," a third kiss, "you could come with me, if you want to," he finished, to LeFou's disappointment without pausing for more kisses.

When LeFou walked through the village with Stanley next to him, he felt like everybody knew about them. Remembering who Stanley was related to, there was a huge possibility that in fact everybody _did_ know. Some people looked irritated, but most of them were friendly and greeted as usual, only this time with wider smiles on their faces.  
They finally passed Tom and Dick, who did something LeFou never had thought he would see them doing – they winked. Seeing that Stanley winked back, looking outrageously attractive while doing so, LeFou gathered all his courage and grabbed Stanley's hand.

The triplets didn't look surprised at all but rather triumphant when Stanley and LeFou arrived together. And cleaning and working together was much easier than LeFou had expected. They mostly communicated through smiles and small gestures, which earned them high pitched "Ooooh"s from Stanley's sisters. When they shared a kiss, LeFou worried for a short moment that at least one of the girls would collapse from happiness.

   
After being done with the work and sharing a meal together, LeFou decided to say goodbye. The triplets looked at each other, raising their eyebrows, but said nothing. It was only when Stanley told them he would bring LeFou outside, that Eliana said, "Just leave the door open."

\- "Why?" Stanley asked, confused.

"Trust me," Eliana said, "just do it."

Coming back into the room after LeFou was gone, Stanley asked her once again, what the reason for leaving the door open was.  
  
"Wait a moment," Eliana said, when only a few seconds later LeFou's voice made "Uhm" from the outside.

\- "Yes, you can stay here overnight," Elise said loudly and Eliana shot Stanley a look that clearly said, 'Now you know why'.

Stanley left the room, accompanied by a choir of three, saying, "Good night!".  
  
\- "Maybe also get some sleep," Eloise suggested.  
  
"And please be quiet, because we want some sleep, too," Elise added.

   
When a few minutes later Stanley lay on top of him, kissing him hard, LeFou already knew they would ignore Eloise's suggestion. However, as soon as Stanley stopped kissing him and started tracing his neck and then his chest with his lips, LeFou wondered about what Elise had said.

"LeFou?" Stanley asked. "Are you thinking about my sisters? Because if you do, then stop that at once." He wandered further down and started opening LeFou's pants.

\- "But they said-," LeFou breathed hard when Stanley softly kissed his hip. "Eloise said-"

"LeFou," Stanley said, pausing what he was doing, "either you'll stop that now, or I will stop _this_."

\- "Don't," LeFou whimpered.

"Then just forget about them." Stanley's hair tickled LeFou's thighs, while his mouth was already dangerously close to LeFou's crotch.

\- "Make me," LeFou whispered, biting his lip.

And Stanley did.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo...almost done with the fic. One more chapter! I hope you liked this and you also liked the new song!  
> Please let me know what you think, I'm more than happy to read your thoughts! :)


	4. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is rather short in comparison with the other chapters...but originally I planned to have the epilogue even shorter, so...:D

LeFou moved from one side to the other. He thought about the morning. And how he never before had been happier when waking up. Looking into the warmest eyes that probably existed and listening to the most beautiful voice saying the world's sweetest words.  
They both had wished they could stay forever in the bed like that – not only for the obvious reasons, but also because they had already guessed the exact faces of Eliana, Elise and Eloise. But as they had found out a bit later, they had been looking even worse in reality than LeFou and Stanley had been imagining.  
With a mix of happiness and mock, the three of them had said nothing at first, but then, just when LeFou and Stanley had taken the first bite of their breakfast, Eliana had asked, "So, what exactly is your definition of the word 'sleep'?"  
LeFou smiled to himself. All the joking had been worth it and if he was being honest, he would have been disappointed if there hadn't been any jokes.  
Sitting up, he decided it was best to give up his original plan about sleeping. Once again he couldn't even _fall_ asleep – but not being able to do so because he was missing Stanley's arms was a nice change. Taking one last look at the antlers on his bed and wondering who'd be able to turn them into daisies, he went on his way.  
  


At the same time, Eloise let out a triumphant scream. "I won!" she explained to a very confused Stanley.

\- "Won what?"

"We had a bet," Elise said, showing up behind him, "about when you would give up, get out of bed and leave"

\- "Well, I don't intend to leave," Stanley said flatly, asking himself who on earth would ever believe this lie.

"Oh yes, you do" Eliana's head popped up behind the door to her room. "Because LeFou won't stay here," she added.

\- "And why is that?" He wasn't sure if he really wanted to hear the answer.

"Sleep!" the three of them shouted.

\- "Fine," Stanley rolled his eyes, "I'll leave then, I mean, you give me no other choice than doing so"

"And do yourself a favor and just stay there, because this is getting ridiculous," Elise said.

Stanley pouted, not confessing that he actually liked the idea of staying at LeFou's home, wished his sisters a good night with a lot of sleep, and left.

  
Stanley had been walking for only five minutes when he saw LeFou going in his direction. LeFou looked back, opening his mouth, then closing it again. He stopped, but then finally ran up to Stanley. "You couldn't sleep, thank god!" he said.

\- "Usually that's nothing to be happy about, but you're right," Stanley laughed and took LeFou into his arms.

"I missed you," LeFou whispered. He looked up at Stanley, raised himself on tiptoes and kissed him.

Feeling like they were being watched, they stopped their kiss and turned to the side. Tom and Dick looked at them and tilted their heads.

"Look, we're really happy for you and everything," said Tom, "but don't you think you're being a bit too dramatic?"

\- "Yeah, just as a reminder – you're living in the same village," Dick agreed.

"And it's not even a big village, so-"

\- "How long have you been standing there?" LeFou asked.

"Long enough," Dick said simply.  
  
Stanley just shot them a look that made Tom and Dick finally turn around to leave. After a few steps, Tom stopped, turned back, said, "This is a public space!" and continued walking.

When they were out of sight, LeFou looked at Stanley again. "So, where do you want to go?" he asked.  
  
Stanley snorted. "Definitely your home," he said.

\- "Not that I would be against that, but what is the problem with your home?"  
  
"My sisters," Stanley replied shortly.  
  
\- "Your sisters? I like your sisters, they-"  
  
"Sleep," Stanley said. "They want to sleep."  
  
\------  
  
Stanley stood up from his bed. He didn't exactly know why, but somehow he and LeFou had decided to make another attempt to each sleep in their own bed. When he had told this to his sisters, they had looked at him as if they thought about getting him to the asylum. Leaving the house, Stanley was relieved that he wouldn't see their faces until the next day, because they were going out tonight.  
The relief ended abrutly when he knocked on LeFou's door and Eliana opened. A resigned look on her face, she told him to come in.  
Stanley found his other sisters sitting next to LeFou who obviously wasn't sure how to feel about the whole situation or what look to put on his face. On the table in front of them lay a pile of clothes that Stanley recognized as his own.  
  
"What exactly is going on here?" he asked, addressing nobody in particular with that question.  
  
Eloise seemed more than happy to answer though. "Tom and Dick told us about the dramatic scenes yesterday," she began.  
  
\- "Why and when have you been talking to them?" Stanley asked, frowning.  
  
"The point is," Eliana said loudly, "that we don't want to see what the next step would look like"  
  
\- "We love you, but we don't want to be the sisters of the man who stood in front of LeFou's balcony, saying sweet words of love or something," Elise shuddered.  
  
"And where would you get that idea?"  
  
\- "Romeo and Juliet," Eloise said.

"Who are-?"  
  
\- "It's a book," Eliana explained. "Belle gave it to us. She made us promise that we would read it in exchange for giving you the same room as LeFou." She grinned at him.  
  
"That's...weird"  
  
\- "It's Belle after all, right? Anyways – don't you dare trying to act like you're going to sleep in your own bed tomorrow," Elise looked at Stanley with an earnest look.  
  
"Or we'll burn down your bed," Eloise added, sounding suspiciously happy about that idea.

\- "I don't even have a balcony," LeFou said quietly as if he just had remembered this fact.  
  
\------  
  
Two weeks later, Stanley's bed was still standing, but much to Eliana's, Eloise's and Elise's relief, it wasn't in use. LeFou snuggled up closer to Stanley, feeling the soft material of his pink nightdress Madame de Garderobe had given to him as a thank you gift. Listening to his soft breath, LeFou still thought it was unfair how beautiful Stanley looked in that dress.

"I love you," LeFou said.  
  
\- "And I love you," Stanley mumbled, half asleep.  
  
LeFou smiled. He hadn't had any nightmares since Stanley had sung to him for the first time. Sadness had been replaced with happiness, pain with joy, and antlers with flowers. It felt like it was really meant to be.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! The fic is done! I'll be honest with you, I'm going to miss everything about this, especially the triplets. Here's me hoping to have a nice idea for a new fic soon. :'3
> 
> To be overly dramatic like Stanley and LeFou, I'd like to thank everybody who commented and liked this fic and/or gave likes and/or reblogged (with wonderful tags sometimes!) on tumblr.  
> But an extra huge thank you goes to kjs_s and happypillls for almost killing me with kindness here and on tumblr, and also to missartemisholmes for being such an inspiration and a lovely, wonderful person! THANKS YOU THREE AMAZING PEOPLE <3

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this! If you liked it, please leave kudos and if you can a short or long comment! I'm happy about everything, even if it's just a "yes!" or a "oh no!" :)


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